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V. HIMMER.

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CIRCUIT CLOSER FOR ELECTRIC GLOGKS.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VITALIS HIMMER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO IDA G. HIMMER, OF

- SAME PLACE.

CIRCUIT-CLOSER FOR ELECTRIC CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,301, dated May 6,1884.

Application filed April 6, 1883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VITALIS HIMMER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit -Olosersfor Electric Clocks and Indicators, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the class of instrumentsemployed for automatically transmitting, through the agency of astandard timepiece or other automatically-operated machinery, periodicelectric impulses of proper character for actuating a series ofsecondary electric clocks or dials.

The object of my invention is to provide a device for automaticallyclosing at regularlyrecurring intervals the circuit of a battery througha system of secondary clocks or indicating devices, and at the same timepreventing the occurrence of 'disruptive electric discharges at thecircuit-closing points.

The invention consists, generally, in combining with the pendulum of anautomatically-operated clock or regulator a pivoted lever vibratedthereby and in unison therewith, and carrying a pawl for actuating aratchetwheel, and in applying to this wheel a device mechanicallyoperated thereby to close the circuit of abattery at predeterminedintervals through a conductor, which includes an artificial resistance,and constituting an artificial line, and by the same operation to placea con tact-point electrically connected with one pole of the battery inthe path of a contact-point carried upon the vibrating lever, andelectrically connected through the system of secondary clocks with theremaining pole of the battery; The parts are so adjusted that the nextsucceeding vibration of the lever closes this circuit and temporarilyopens the circuit of the artificial line. Immediately after the leverhas acted to transmit an impulse through the clockcircuit itsconnections are interrupted, the artificial line is simultaneouslyclosed, and the ratchet-wheel is further actuated, again severing theconnections of the artificial line. 1

In the accompanying drawings, which illus- (No model.)

trate my invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the circuit-closingdevice, showing in diagram its electric connections. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the same, and Fig. 3 illustrates the device in the positionwhich it assumes preparatory to transmitting an electric 5 5 impulse.

Referring to these figures, A represents a portion of the pendulum-rodof a standard time-piece or regulator, and B a lever pivoted at b to aninsulated portion, 0, of a supporting-frame, O. The upper extremity ofthe le ver B is adj ustably united with the pendulumrod A by means of alink, a, pivoted at one extremity to an adjustable flexible arm, a,secured to said pendulum, and at the other ex- 6 5 tremity to the leverB. By this means synchronous vibrations are imparted to the lever B fromthe pendulum A. The lever Bis delicately counterpoised by an arm orextension,

I), in such a manner that as little resistance as possible will normallybe offered thereby to the movement of the pendulum A. At the lowerextremity of the arm I) is carried a pawl,

d, the face of which rests upon the periphery of a ratchet-wheel, D, andis caused by the successive vibrations of the lever B to engage thesuccessive teeth of the wheel, and thus to thereby advance the same inthe direction indicated by the arrow 00 through the space occupied byone tooth for each complete vi- 8o bration of the lever B. A dog, d,pivoted in a suitable support, d extending from the frame 0, serves toprevent a retrograde movement of the ratchet-wheel D.

Carried upon the face of the wheel D, near 8 5 its periphery, is a pin,6, which, once in each revolution of the same, is brought into contactwith a beveled finger, 6, carried at the extremity e of a lever, E. Thelever E is pivoted to the frame 0 at a point, 6 and nor- 9o mally rests,by virtue of its own weight, upon a pin, 6. The action of the pin 6 isto raise the lever E from this position by striking the beveledcontact-point e. The parts are so adjusted that the pin 6 will act inthis manner to 5 elevate the lever E through the influence of onevibration of the lever B in the direction indicated by the arrow as, andto maintain it in that position until the ratchet wheel is againadvanced by the next vibration of the lever B in the same direction. Thepin 0, by this second vibration, is advanced a suflicient distance tofree the lever and permit it to resume its normal position.

Upon the lever E is mounted a flexible arm, F, carrying twocontact-points, f and b respectively,providedwith circuit-closing pointsf and I). \Vhile the lever E remains in its normal position, restingupon the pin 0, these contact-points are held away from their respectivecircuit-closing contacts f and If. hen, however, the lever E is elevatedin the manner already described, through the agency of the pin 6, andthe movement of the arm I) in the direction indicated by the arrow as,the contact-point f will be pressed against the circuit-closing point fwhich is supported from a screw-post, f, extending through an insulatedportion, 0", of the frame 0. The subsequent movement of the arm I) inthe direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow 00 causes thecontact-point b to be pressed against the contact-point Z)". Thevibration of the lever B is of sufficient amplitude to afford a firm andsecure contact between the two points 0" and b, and the parts arepreferably so adjusted as to cause the vibration of the lever to deflectthe flexible arm F suificiently to carry the contactpoint f away fromits circuit-closing point f during the time while the points b and bimpinge upon each other. In some instances, however, it may be founddesirable that the parts be so adjusted that both contacts will remainclosed; but I prefer usually that the pressure of the point If shouldserve to separate the points f and f 2 for the reason hereinafter setforth. WVhen the con tact of the two points If and b has been made inthe manner described, the subsequent move ment of the arm I) of thelever B in the direction indicated by the arrow serves first to severthe connection between these two points, and then by further actuatingthe ratchet-wheel to release the lever E and arm F, thus severing thecontact at f For the purpose of readily adjusting the positionof thespring-arm F and the contactpoints carried thereby, with reference totheir respective circuit-closing points, an adj ustingscrew, h, iscarried upon the lever E, and by pressing against the arm F at a point,h, above that of its attachment to the lever E, the former may be sprungoutward to any required distance. The contact point or pin f isrendered. adjustable by mounting it at the end of the screw f andeccentric therewith, in such a manner that by turning the screw the pinwill be thrown toward or away from the point f.

The amplitude of the vibration of the lever B, while primarily dependentupon the amplitude of the beat of the pendulum at the particular pointof the attachment of the link a thereto, may be adjusted within certainlimits by means of adjusting-screws 7c 7r, extending from opposite sidesof the arm btowardafixed stop, k, projecting through an aperture, 7c,formed in the arm.

The entire frame 0 is adj ustably supported upon an arm, L, which may bescrewed or otherwise supported from the back board of the clock. For thepurpose of securing a good electrical connection with the point 2)" uponthe lever B, I prefer to unite the lever with the supportingplate c bymeans of a flexible conducting strip or cord, Z. A similar cord, m, isemployed for connecting the movable lever E with the support 0.

It is designed that one polesay the positive-of a battery, 0, should beconnected by a conductor, 1, with the support L, and thus with the leverE and flexible arm F, carrying the two contact-points f and b. Thecontactpoint f is electrically connected through its support f and aconductor, 2, in which is included an adjustable artificial resistance,R, with the negative pole of the battery 0. The contact-point b islikewise connected with a conductor, 3, constituting the main line, inwhich are included the secondary electric clocks T, and through theearth with a conductor, l, leading to the negative pole of the batteryO.The resistance of the two circuits of the battery 0 thus formed arepreferably made approximately equal. It is evident thus that at thepredetermined intervals,which may be once a minute or any other desiredinterval, the circuit through artificial line 2 will be closed at thepoints f and f and subsequently the circuit, through the main-lineconductor 3, will be momentarily substituted for that circuit, owing tothe flexure of the arm F causing a separation of the points f and fAfter the mainline circuit has again been opened, the artificial circuitwill also be opened, and they remain in this condition until theoperation is repeated. By thus closing the contact-points f and f andholding them closed until the points I) and b havebeen closed,subsequently separating the points f and f and then reelosing the latterbefore the points b and Z) are separated, the occurrence of disruptivedischarges of any considerable force at these last-named points isprevented.

The device hereinbefore described is primarily intended to be actuatedto close a circuit once a minute, and for that purpose, when it isapplied to a second-beating clock, the ratchet-wheel D should beprovided with thirty teeth. It is evident, however, that the number ofteeth may be varied, or more than one pin may be carried upon theratchet-wheel D when it is desired to close the circuit at otherintervals.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, substantially ashereinbefore set forth, of a battery, a series of electric clocksincluded in a normally-open circuit of said battery, anormally-openshuntcircuit around said clocks, means for periodic= IIO ally closingsaid shunt circuit, and means, substantially such as described, formomentarily substituting said clock-circuit for said shunt-circuit.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of abattery, a series of electric clocks included in a normally-open circuitof said battery, a normally-open shuntcircuit around said clocks, andmeans, substantially such as described, for causing the connections ofsaid shunt-circuit to remain completed during the operation of closingand interrupting the connections of said clock-ch cuit.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with thependulum of a clock, of a lever actuated thereby, a pawl carried uponsaid lever, a ratchet-wheel actuated by said pawl, a pin carried uponsaid ratchetwheel, a second lever periodically actuated by said pendulumthrough the agency of said first lever, ratchet-wheel and pin, and twocontact-points, one of which acts when the second lever is actuated toclose an electric circuit, while the other is placed in the path of acircuit-closing point carried upon said first lever.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of avibrating lever, a pawl carried upon said lever, a ratchet-wheelactuated by said pawl, a circuit-closing lever, means for periodicallyactuating said circuitclosing lever through the agency of saidratchet-wheel to close an electric circuit, and a contact-pin carriedupon said vibrating lever acting to momentarily interrupt said circuitand complete the connections of a second circuit.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of avibrating lever, a pawl carried upon said lever, a ratchet-wheel actuated by said pawl, a circuit closing lever, means for periodicallyactuating said circuitclosing lever through the agency of saidratchet-wheel to close anelectric circuit, a contactpin carried uponsaid vibrating lever acting to momentarily interrupt said circuit andcomplete the connections of a second circuit, and means, substantiallysuch as described, for interrupting the first -named circuit after theaction of said contact-pin.

6. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of avibrating lever, a circuit-closing point carried thereon, a pawlactuated by said lever, a ratchet-wheel actuated by said pawl, acircuit-closing arm, and means, substantially such as described, forcausing said arm to be periodically placed in the path of saidcircuit-closing point through the action of said pawl and ratchet-wheel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th day ofApril, A. D.

VITALIS HIMMER.

Witnesses:

DANIEL W. EDGEOOMB, CHARLES A. TERRY.

